Weatherall Technical Applications

Jim graduated from Caltech with a B.S. in astronomy, writing a senior thesis Solar Velocity with Respect to the Interstellar Medium at Mt. Wilson Observatory. His Ph.D. thesis in plasma physics from the University of Colorado at Boulder entitled Nonlinear Langmuir Waves in a Weak Magnetic Field, discusses type III solar radio bursts.

As a post-doc, Jim was a National Research Council/National Academy of Sciences Resident Research Associate at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and worked in the High Energy Astrophysics group. As a Senior Engineer in high-powered microwaves at General Dynamics, he designed magnetrons and Cerenkov amplifier sources. While a tenured Associate Professor of Astrophysics at New Mexico Tech, Jim taught graduate level courses, acted as department chair and organized graduate seminars. He researched radio emission from pulsars and his work identifies unique signatures for the radio emission process in relativistic plasma of the pulsar magnetosphere.

Currently, Jim is a Battelle Senior Research Scientist with the Department of Homeland Security developing electromagnetic screening technologies. He has received patents for several inventions and awarded by the IEEE/AIAA for his outstanding research.

Jim's affiliations include Clark Lake Radio Observatory, Institute for Theoretical Physics in Santa Barbara, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Webb Schools of California, National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Federal Aviation Administration, American Astronomical Society, and The International Society for Optics and Photonics (SPIE). He is also a member of the American Physical Society.

Kate's responsibilities have included academic administrative assistant in Miami, Florida; assistant editor at the Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences in Boulder, Colorado; and office manager in Greenbelt, Maryland. Actively participating as a parent and community volunteer, she served as an advisory board member at a pre-school in Claremont, California and a private school in Socorro, New Mexico.

While in New Mexico, Kate established a food cooperative, returned to college, and elected president for the student chapter of the Society for Technical Communication. After earning her B.S. and graduating with honors, Kate was employed by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory as information services coordinator, technical editor, and web designer.

Fulfilling her degree requirements included writing a technical communication thesis, Structuring a Web Site: Mapping, Modularity, Metaphors, Hierarchy, and Non-Linearity, discussing the design, developmental, and corporate elements necessary to create an effective website. She also completed a geology research thesis entitled Uranium in Socorro County, analyzing the sources and transport processes of uranium throughout the state of New Mexico and the possibility of it affecting the local environment.

She continues effectively using her skills as a consultant, webmaster, and media director.